To see God’s dwelling place

04 Sep 2013 Leave a comment

by jennifermcintyreblog in Devotions Tags: , , , , , , ,

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness ‘sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. ~Matthew 5:1-11 (CEB)

How can we embrace poverty as a way to God when everyone around us wants to become rich?   Poverty has many forms.  We have to ask ourselves:  “What is my poverty?”  Is it lack of money, lack of emotional stability, lack of a loving partner, lack of security, lack of safety, lack of self-confidence?  Each human being has a place of poverty.  That’s the place where God wants to dwell!  “How blessed are the poor,” Jesus says (Matthew 5:3).  This means that our blessing is hidden in our poverty.

We are so inclined to cover up our poverty and ignore it that we often miss the opportunity to discover God, who dwells in it.   Let’s dare to see our poverty as the land where our treasure is hidden. ~From Bread for the Journey, by Henri J. M. Nouwen

Help me to see where You dwell in my life this day O Lord. If I cannot find You this day, help me to see what is blocking my sight. Help me to look to You for my security, my safety and my self-confidence. Amen.

To think or to feel

22 Aug 2013 Leave a comment

by jennifermcintyreblog in Devotions Tags: , , , , , , ,

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more. There will be no mourning, crying, or pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Then the one seated on the throne said, “Look! I’m making all things new.” He also said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Then he said to me, “All is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will freely give water from the life- giving spring. ~Rev. 24:4-6 (CEB)

“The choice you face constantly is whether you are taking your hurts to your head or to your heart. In your head you can analyze them, find their causes and consequences, and coin words to speak and write about them. But no final healing is likely to come from that source. You need to let your wounds go down into your heart. Then you can live them through and discover that they will not destroy you. Your heart is greater than your wounds. . . .

Think of each wound as you would of a child who has been hurt by a friend. As long as that child is ranting and raving, trying to get back at the friend, one wound leads to another. But when the child can experience the consoling embrace of a parent, she or he can live through the pain, return to the friend, forgive, and build up a new relationship. Be gentle with yourself, and let your heart be your loving parent as you live your wounds through.” ~From The Inner Voice of Love by Henri J. M. Nouwen

Lord, as I learn to work through life’s struggles, help me to feel Your loving embrace this day. Help me to be healthy and whole. Amen.

Jesus’ loneliness

10 Aug 2013 Leave a comment

by jennifermcintyreblog in Devotions Tags: , , , , ,

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.Psalm 147:3

When Jesus came close to his death, he no longer could experience God’s presence.  He cried out:  “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  (Matthew 27:47).  Still in love he held on to the truth that God was with him and said:  “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”  (Luke 23:46).

The loneliness of the cross led Jesus to the resurrection.  As we grow older we are often invited by Jesus to follow him into this loneliness, the loneliness in which God is too close to be experienced by our limited hearts and minds.  When this happens, let us pray for the grace to surrender our spirits to God as Jesus did.

Give me the grace and the strength to live through the moments that I feel that Your Presence has left me. Help me to hold onto the Truths that I know and to not believe my feelings. Help my eyes to stay on Your. Guide my steps and steady my walk. Amen.

Chosen, blessed, broken

01 Aug 2013 Leave a comment

by jennifermcintyreblog in Devotions Tags: , , , , , ,

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take and eat. This is my body.” He took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from this, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many so that their sins may be forgiven. I tell you, I won’t drink wine again until that day when I drink it in a new way with you in my Father’s kingdom.” Then, after singing songs of praise, they went to the Mount of Olives. ~Matt. 26:26-30 (CEB

“When Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to his disciples, he summarized in these gestures his own life. Jesus is chosen from all eternity, blessed at his baptism in the Jordon River, broken on the cross, and given as bread to the world. Being chosen, blessed, broken, and given is the sacred journey of the Son of God, Jesus the Christ.

When we take bread, bless it, break it, and give it with the words, ‘This is the Body of Christ,’ we express our commitment to make our lives conform to the life of Christ. We too want to live as people chosen, blessed, and broken and thus become food for the world.” ~From Bread for the Journey by Henri J. M. Nouwen

Help me this day O Lord, to live a life chosen, blessed and broken for You. May all the trials I’ve seen and the pain I’ve born be for Your glory. May the words from my mouth and the actions of my life be a reflection of You. Help me to be Your hands and feet in the world. Amen.

All for Your glory

25 Jul 2013 Leave a comment

by jennifermcintyreblog in Devotions Tags: , , , , , ,

God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. ~ 1 Cor. 1:9 (CEB)

“Jesus was broken on the cross. He lived his suffering and death not as an evil to avoid at all costs but as a mission to embrace. We too are broken. We live with broken bodies, broken hearts, broken minds, or broken spirits. We suffer from broken relationships.

How can we live our brokenness? Jesus invites us to embrace our brokenness as he embraced the cross and live it as part of our mission. He asks us not to reject our brokenness as a curse from God that reminds us of our sinfulness but to accept it and put it under God’s blessing for our purification and sanctification. This, our brokenness can become a gateway to new life.” ~From Bread for the Journey by Henri J. M. Nouwen

Heavenly Father, help me this day to live courageously. Help me to not run from where I have been but to embrace who I have become through trials and mistakes. May the pain I have endured be a blessing to someone today. May I use it all for Your glory. Amen.

Transmitters

24 Jul 2013 Leave a comment

by jennifermcintyreblog in Devotions Tags: , , , , ,

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master. ‘If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’

“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning. ~John 15:19-27 (CEB)

“The Church is in the world to save the world. It is a tool of God for that purpose; not a comfortable religious club established in fine historical premises. Every one of its members is required, in one way or another, to co-operate with the Spirit in working for that great end: and much of this work will be done in secret and invisible ways. We are transmitters as well as receivers. Our contemplation and our action, our humble self-opening to God, keeping ourselves sensitive to His music and light, and our generous self-opening to our fellow creatures, keeping ourselves sensitive to their needs, ought to form one life: mediating between God and His world, and bringing the saving power of the Eternal into time. We are far from realizing all that human spirits can do for one another on spiritual levels if they will pay the price; how truly impossible and unchristian it is to ‘keep ourselves to ourselves.’” ~From The Spiritual Life by Evelyn Underhill

Give me strength this day O Lord, to be Your hands and feet in this world. Help me to transmit Your love to those around me. Help me to be more sensitive to others needs. Amen.

Known by love

22 Jul 2013 Leave a comment

by jennifermcintyreblog in Devotions Tags: , , , , , ,

Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. ~James 5:7-11 (CEB)

“The persons and ministries of John the Baptist and of Jesus himself, both rich in the practice of activities designed to strengthen the spirit, were held constantly before [early Christians]. So, wherever early Christians looked they saw examples of the practice of solitude, fasting, prayer, private study, communal study, worship, and sacrificial service and giving- to mention only some of the more obvious disciplines for spiritual life.

These early Christians really did arrange their lives very differently from their non-Christian neighbors, as well as from the vast majority of those of us called Christians today. We are speaking of their overall style of life, not just what they did under pressure, which frequently was also astonishingly different.’ ~From The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard

Help me this day O Lord, to prioritize my day. May my life reflect my faith. May my actions speak of Your love. Guide me in the way I should go. Amen.

The saints who came before

21 Jul 2013 Leave a comment

by jennifermcintyreblog in Devotions Tags: , , , , , ,

Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles ‘feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet. ~Acts 4:32-37 (CEB)

“The way early disciples lived mystified people around them because the disciples seemed to live in another world, the principles that guided them clearly differed from those that guided others. They practiced a way of life both beautiful and mysterious. Their lives made sense only if one knew that they were living by the power and guidance of God. Their lives were governed by the reign of God and not by the press of politics of the call of culture. They were different because they chose to live their lives in obedience to and in the presence of God. Their radical love for God and neighbor resulted in dramatic actions that perplexed all who observed them.

When we move securely into the reign and presence of God, our lives also take on a beautiful and mysterious quality because God’s presence and principles are being expressed in all that we are and in all that we do. Our actions prompt sometimes gratitude and sometimes perplexity in others. They prompt sometimes joy and gratitude within our lives and sometimes weariness when our radical actions are misunderstood.

But we are not alone. The first-generation Christians lived this radical faith every day. Their actions caught the world’s attention both positively and negatively, but their actions- like ours- were not calculated to bring a response; rather, their actions and ours are a response. A response to God’s amazing grace that accepts us, assures us, sustains us, and always holds us close in the embrace of divine love. Such radical grace prompts a radical response.” From A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God, Rueben P. Job

O God, prepare me, through the active presence of Your Spirit, to come before You worthily and to ask of You rightly; enlighten my understanding; purify my every desire; quicken my will to instant obedience to Your Word; strengthen every right purpose; direct me in Your way; through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen. ~adapted from The Book of Worship

The depths of my heart

20 Jul 2013 Leave a comment

by jennifermcintyreblog in Devotions Tags: , , , , , , , ,

We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you — see that you excel in this act of grace also.

I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.” ~ 2 Cor. 8:1-15 (CEB)

“It takes practice to learn not to censor our prayer. But trying to keep secrets from God is like the three-year-old who covers her eyes and declare, ‘You can’t see me.’ God sees into our hearts more clearly than we do. Indeed, God is the one who prompts us to look at what we have swept under the rug of our repressions and rationalizations. The Spirit awakens us to what lies hidden within- sometimes gently, sometimes with a jolt, but always so God can work with our conscious consent to free us for growth.” ~From Soul Feast by Marjorie J. Thompson

Heavenly Father, You know my heart, You know my thoughts, You even know those things I hid from myself. Help me to be true to You that I may serve You more fully. Give me the courage to awaken the depths of me heart. Amen.

Larger than me

18 Jul 2013 Leave a comment

by jennifermcintyreblog in Devotions Tags: , , , ,

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium.  And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. ~Acts 13:48-42 (CEB)

“Prayer is larger than any of us. It is less a question of bringing prayer into our hearts than of bring our hearts into prayer; not drawing water from the sea to fill a bath, but being immersed in an immense ocean and becoming one with it.” ~From Toward God by Micheal Casey

Almighty God, this day may I feel that my heart is connected to Yours. Fill me with Your presence. Empower me this day and guide me along the path I am to go. Amen.

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